Our Approach
Look For Unmet Needs
Bloomberg Philanthropies tackles challenges that are either overlooked or underfunded, bringing a unique approach and perspective grounded in Mike Bloomberg’s experience in the public and private sectors.
Approach in Action
In the arts, that includes supporting a nationwide management training program, Arts Innovation and Management (AIM), that helps small and midsize organizations with long-term planning, marketing, fund-raising, and board development.
BAYCAT, a nonprofit arts organization that participated in AIM, works in the San Francisco Bay Area to educate young people of color, young people from low-income families, and young women who want to become storytellers and filmmakers. The AIM program has given BAYCAT’s CEO and other nonprofit leaders management training and the expertise to develop sustainable business models — filling an unmet need for hundreds of arts organizations across the country.
With the help of an AIM advisor, BAYCAT developed a strategic plan that better engaged the board in its work and created a new group of volunteers to offer additional support and raise new funding. After two years, BAYCAT graduated from the AIM program with a strong plan and excitement about the future.
What lives behind after this grant is really the confidence to know that we could do much bigger and better things.
Villy Wang, CEO, BAYCAT, San Francisco, California